Dayton Dining

The best THREE beers in each category will be awarded medals by our panel of judges. Best of Class Awards and Regional Awards will be determined by most medal points earned. Any Best of Class of Regional Award Tie-Breakers will be determined by most Golds awarded. Winners were announced today:

Dayton Area Breweries
winning Gold

Dayton Beer Company came out on top in the Herb/Spice/Pepper Beer category with their Gem City Lager with Jalapenos

It is hard to get a bad burger in Dayton. Immediately I can list almost 10 great spots for a good burger. Tanks. Meadowlark. Pine Club. Oakwood Club (that black and bleu is to die for). Slyder’s Tavern. Abners on East 3rd. Foys in Fairborn. Zink’s. Voltzy’s. Burger Master (my go-to for soul food).

Back in 2009 I began my search for the best burger in Dayton and I have found it:

There is one spot that stands above the rest. Disalvo’s Deli. Rinaldo “Ron” Disalvo is grinding his own blends of choice cuts of beef. Filet. Sirloin. Trimmings from brisket. Chuck. Whatever he has on hand he is mixing to perfection.

One day a week. These custom creations are only available on Thursdays at his spot on Stroop Road in Kettering. The flavor and the makeup of the burgers fluctuate weekly with the cuts he uses and the toppings he piles on.

Here’s what you will notice. It’s cooked perfectly on the flat-top. Smashed with a sear, cooked just under medium and juicy throughout. It’s a loosely packed patty. The crispy edges give it a nice texture to offset the tender bite of a freshly made patty.

I have had the burger with onion, tomato and lettuce under a buttery brioche bun with nothing else. Rinaldo has a custom spice blend that flavors the beef perfectly while negating the need for ketchup or mayo. One time, I swore I could taste a hint of A-1. When I asked Rinaldo, he laughed and went back to the kitchen. Whatever it is, it’s delightful and doesn’t overpower the flavor of the top shelf beef.

Recently his burger came dressed with crispy Neuske’s bacon, provolone, sauteed onions and mushrooms with a dollop of his homemade bbq sauce. (Ron is pretty adept at the smoker and his bbq is equally as famous.)

The deli case at Disalvo’s is full of deli salads. Coleslaw, potato salad, greek and Mediterranian dishes with olives and artichokes, skip them all on Thursdays. Your burger is always accompanied by a basket of crispy fries tossed in Truffle Oil and Parmesan cheese. Finish the burger and the fries and you may have the willpower to skip the cannoli by the register. Probably not.

Since my days blogging at Dayton’s Diners and Dives, I’ve always enjoyed my burger and fries with a Coke. These days I have a diet Coke, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying a beer over lunch. Crooked Handle has created a special Italian brew for Disalvo’s or grab a can of Warped Wing’s Ermal’s.

This isn’t your typical burger. Depending on the week and the toppings this burger and fries range from $9.95 to $12.95 for the recent bacon/provolone/mushroom/onion and bbq burger. Worth every cent. Grab an extra napkin. Make it two. You are gonna need it. Remember. Thursday’s only, Disalvo’s Deli, tell them Bryan sent you.

Ghostlight Coffee is partnering with GoZERO Services, GreenSpeed Products, and, hopefully, its customers, for a no-waste coffee shop experience. The coffeehouse is introducing a new composting system, all compostable single-use carry out items, and an affordable line of reusable mugs, tumblers and stainless steel straws.

New composting procedures made possible through GoZero’s commercial food waste services will encourage guests to discard waste into proper containers for collection. Shop employees and signage will educate and remind guests of the color coding system (blue for recycling, green for composting, and black for landfill trash). All hot and cold beverage cups, plates, and utensils will be from GreenSpeed Products, making them fully compostable ​— ​green ​bin, please!

With active participation, they estimate the effort can save 80,000-100,000 plastic utensils, cups, lids and straws, from being sent to local landfills this year. Ghostlight’s owner Shane Anderson has been working with Geoff Fansher of GreenSpeed Products for over a year to finalize the transition.

“Recycling restrictions didn’t leave us with too many effective options until we learned of GoZERO Services,” said Anderson. “Their compost collection, along with new compostable packaging products and commitment of our baristas & customers should make a considerable leap towards sustainability.”

In addition to it’s composting efforts, Ghostlight is encouraging frequent guests to purchase reusable items such as cold drink tumblers, travel mugs, and metal straws. The stainless steel straws, released earlier this summer, have been a promising early sign. Ghostlight has had to restock three times in the past month.

The coffee shop is working towards a goal of 90% of all service items being either compostable or recyclable by the end of the year.

“The key to this effort will be our staff and customers making the commitment to disposing items properly.” said Anderson. “​One easy decision can make a huge impact. It’s up to you!”

Twice a year, every January and July for one week Dayton restaurants put together a 3 course pre fixe meal deal as part of Miami Valley Restaurant Week. In full disclosure, I created this event when I was the Board President of the local association. We started recruiting for it in 2004 and we launched it in winter of 2005. The 3 course meal deal was offered by $20.05, to reflect the year and $1 of each meal was donated to a local charity and all participants were locally owned. At it’s peak we had about 60 restaurants participating. Over the years it’s changed some, now offering various price options: $20.18, $25.18, or $30.18 and chain restaurants are also taking part.

Now the trickiest part about this week, even though it kicks off on Sunday night, many of the businesses are not open on Monday or Tuesday, so you’ll really want to make sure you’ve done your research on where to dine. For the 40 participating eateries and menu’s check the MVRA website. Also please remember, many restaurants will be busier than usual, reservations are suggested and please be away that menu’s may change without notice.

Some of the restaurants who we suggest- just based on their posted menus:

I can still remember trying to talk Wiley from Meadowlark into participating and her hesitation. At the time she was located in the strip center on Miamisburg-Centerville Road and Wiley just didn’t think they could pull off the promotion. Well she was wrong, she and her staff jumped into it with gusto, offering complimentary sparkling wine to guests while they were waiting and showing off the kind of hospitality that has made here business a hit. Wiley got it! Restaurant week is a marketing opportunity, to attract new guests and wow the regulars by sampling new dishes and testing potential new menu items. It’s why reservations for Meadowlark are always a hot commodity during this promotion. As we’ve looked over the menu for this year, we appreciate that they’ve created a theme for the menu, always think about options for vegetarians and even added a fourth course to the meal.
Here’s their menu:

Sunrise Cafe

259 Xenia Ave. Yellow Springs, OH 45387

Dinner Monday – Saturday 5-9pm

Grillin Cheese Caprese – Graetna cheese from blue jacket dairy in Bellefontaine grilled up to crispy outside and gooey inside to make a delicious topping on local tomatoes with fresh basil, olive oil and balsamic syrup. (gf)

Elote – Mexican grilled street corn. Local sweet corn grilled until golden then basted with a garlic-chili powder aioli topped with crumbled cotija cheese and served with a
lime wedge. (gf)

Entrees

Wagyu with Blueberry-Beet Reduction, Local Veggies and Pickled Beet Relish – A 5 oz cut of silky Wagyu Sirloin grilled to your desired perfection and finished with a reduction of local organic beets, local blueberries and aromatics. Served on a bed of goat cheese-roasted garlic mashed potatoes with grilled zucchini and green beans straight from the farms. Garnished with a complimentary pickled beet relish. 25.18 (gf)

Vegan Sausage with Smoked Tomato-Basil Ragu and Polenta – Our house made vegan sausage made with oats, sage, flax, onions, peppers, mushrooms and carrots are seared until crisp on the outside. Served on a bed of local polenta with grilled local organic zucchini and topped with a heavenly ragu of local tomatoes smoked over hickory sautéed with fresh basil. 20.18 (gf)

Based on pure value:

Appetizers To Share

Choice of one or a Combo of Three of Our Award Winning Deep Fried Vegetables:
MUSHROOMS
ONION RINGS
CAULIFLOWER
HOMEMADE PORK RINDS
w/ choice of Sriracha, Cajun, or Western BBQ Seasoning

Entrée Choices

USDA ANGUS NEW YORK STRIP
A Bleu Cheese Butter-Crusted USDA ANGUS STRIP Served on a bed of House-Made Onion Straws.Served with choice of one side and a dinner roll.CAJUN ANDOUILLE & SHRIMP PASTA BOWL
House Prepared Linguine Pasta w/ Fresh Jumbo Shrimp and Louisiana Creole Andouille Sausage and seasonings- tossed with our White Garlic Cheese Cream Sauce and Summer Vegetables. Served with a salad and garlic bread.SRIRACHA BOURBON GLAZED SALMON
Fresh Atlantic Salmon Grilled to Perfection! Topped w/ our House-made Special Sriracha Bourbon Glaze.Served on a bed of Rice Pilaf and your choice of one side and a dinner roll.

In the sweetest promotion we’ve heard about in quite a while, Cake, Hope and Love has just announced a contest that will give one lucky winner a years worth of cupcakes. Announced today via Facebook Live, bakery owners Shannon & Mike Teague are challenging Cake Nation to take pictures of themselves all around the region with their new Cake Dealer bumper stickers.

To get one just stop by Cake, Hope and Love, buy a regular priced cupcake and ask for your free CAKEDEALER bumper sticker by next Friday, July 27th. Then take your sticker to your favorite place in Dayton, and take a selfie with the bumper sticker. Next post your selfie to facebook or Instagram or both, and be sure to tag your location and #CHLTakesDayton.

For each picture you post, you get one entry. More pictures- more chances to win! You’ll also earn bonus points if the bumper sticker is on your car (it doesn’t have to be) and if Shannon sees your car out and about with the sticker on it, she’ll post a picture and if you call and identify it- you’ll win a free celebration cake.

Pictures must be posted by the first weekend of August, at which point a winner will be announced. The owners will select the winner and you’ll get a dozen cupcakes every month for a year, as well as one six inch celebration cake of your choice. And stay tuned to CH & L’s social media, as you never know when they might add more chances to win.

Next week the bakery counter will be filled with all kinds of special treats for one of Shannon’s favorite holidays: Shark 🦈 week!

Watermark in Miamisburg has just announced it will be creating another of its famed theme dinners on Thursday, August 9th at 6:30pm. This time around, you’re invited to experience a tropically warm summer night with a special Tiki Night Dinner.

Featuring foods inspired by the tropics, paired with classic Tiki drinks, this year Chef Maria has upped the ante, offering a five course feast as opposed to just 4 courses last year. Just in case you are not familiar with Chef’s specialty menu’s- she goes all out and this will sell out quickly- so don’t delay, make your reservation today by calling Watermark at 937-802-0891. Tickets are $69 per person and here’s the menu:

Do you like free food? Did you know your phone can be a powerful tool to earn you freebies? Fortunately, many restaurants offer free food just for signing up for eClubs or downloading their apps. Some rewards programs offer you free food or discounts for using mobile ordering as well.

Just find your favorite eateries on this list, then get busy downloading the apps on to your phone and you’ll be able to access free deals and mobile rewards cards from:

Applebee’s: Enjoy a free treat on your birthday when you sign up for this restaurant’s eClub.

Note some email offers may arrive immediately while others could take a few days. Each rewards program works differently and can change at any time without notice. Be sure to read the fine print on the offer. If you know of programs we missed, please add them to the comments below.

Fairborn city manager Rob Anderson knew he needed to reinvigorate the downtown business corridor for his city to thrive. One of his strategies was to buy four empty buildings on Main Street and hire Tonia Fish as the revitalization specialist. Tonia wasted no time in creating a plan that would make the city of Fairborn a catalyst to creating specialty food businesses.

Opened last fall the 1200 square foot Spark Gluten-Free “kitchen incubator” at 309 W. Main Street offered a shared kitchen space that allows specialty bakers, who previously have been cooking in their homes, to access a licensed commercial kitchen. This space is a game changer that allows these small, mostly home based businesses, to produce products in large quantities without making a large, sometimes infeasible, investment for a new facility. (Full disclosure – Tonia and I worked for several years to bring Synergy, a kitchen incubator to downtown Dayton).

The incubator is a unique asset to this region and is the only one of it’s kind located within an approximate 70 mile radius. The kitchen is now full, with six small business tenants and a waiting list of future users.

Amber Tipton baking at Spark.

The first tenant was the Neighborhood Nest, run by dedicated gluten-free baker Amber Titpon. She created a following for her baked goods by selling at local farmer’s market and several local shops in the greater Dayton/Springfield area. Tiption was a savory chef in culinary school, but after being diagnosed with celiac disease she diverted her focus to creating baked goods that tasted good and had great texture. I was lucky enough to get to taste some of Amber’s baked goods and I have to tell you the nutella cinnamon roll (pictured) I tried was truly the best I’ve ever had.

Tipton shared with us that she often gets request from customers for foods they miss and the challenge of converting a recipe to be gluten free is what keeps her going. She recently succeeded with a key lime pie, and donuts and next up are rye and pumpernickel breads. You can get her gluten-free goodies at the 416 Diner, Lefty’s Eats & Espresso, order from her website or watch her facebook page for cash and carry days. But the most exciting part of talking with Amber was hearing about the growth of her business that has come from being at Spark for not quite a year. She’s been able to hire an assistant baker, and she’s now looking for a spot to open her very own bakery!

Next up for Fairborn, a second incubator. Bilbrey Construction is helping to create this 6000 square foot space, which will consist of two kitchen lines, one that will cater to savory foods, the other being created with bakers in mind, but without the ingredient restrictions of the Spark space. This facility is being created for multiple renters, with a co-working area for members to network and collaborate with other professionals within the industry, and a versatile space for instructional and educational series for members and the public. Members will also have the opportunity to participate in business and financial planning resources, helping them to eventually graduate out of the Incubator into storefronts of their own. The education and instructional series will not only be offered to kitchen members, but the community and nearby university students as well. The opening of the 2nd space is planned for August.

Just today the city of Fairborn has announced a partnership with Rachel DesRochers to run both the Gluten-Free and Kitchen Incubators at Spark Fairborn. In every organization she works with, Rachel’s sole purpose is to spread gratitude and build community.

Rachel founded Grateful Grahams, an artisanal graham cracker company in 2010. Stemming from the success of Grateful Grahams, Rachel started the Incubator Kitchen Collective in 2013. The Incubator Kitchen Collective is a non-profit providing kitchen space, business support, and mentorship to food entrepreneurs in the Cincinnati, Oh. and Newport, Ky. areas. Rachel is also the founder of The Good People Festival, an annual free music festival; and Kitchen Convos, a podcast showcasing the personal stories of the regional food community.

Rachel has received numerous local awards and was a semi-finalist for Martha Stewart’s American Made Award and a finalist in Artworks Big Pitch. Rachel is a passionate believer in the power of gratitude and the role of food in the creation of community. Her mission goes beyond making a great cookie: she also wants to impact her community with positivity and action.

The City of Fairborn will manage the membership and programming aspect of the Coworking Space at Spark Fairborn. Rachel will manage the membership and programming of both the Gluten-Free and Kitchen Incubators at Spark Fairborn. Rachel brings with her a wealth of knowledge and resources gained from the successful guidance of sixty small businesses over the last five years through the Incubator Kitchen Collective.

The Castro family started out 40 years ago as Pizza Queen International and soon gained a cult following in the West Carrollton area. After years of success in the pizza industry, they used the earnings to transform the restaurant into their dream. The result was “El Meson” the eclectic restaurant with the South American menu. Since then the restaurant has transformed and grown into an excellent reputation of one of the highest quality restaurants in Dayton. From drinks to appetizers, the menu is and always has been a Food Adventure.

Decades of success have led us today to this celebration. It is a celebration of hard work and unique eats. As you may know, El Meson has a base menu. The last page of the menu is rotated weekly and features a certain country.

Customer Appreciation Happy Anniversary Hour
From 4 – 5:30pm, both nights, free entry and $5 margaritas in the street party lot! Joe Head, from The Century Bar, will be on site serving some of his favorite bourbon and chatting with guest about varying notes. Rachel Jensen from Republic National Distributing will also be on site with the shot luge and Milagro and Titos!

EL MESON FOOD TRUCKS:

Inside the legendary eatery

El Meson will have a fleet of food trucks on site serving up a variety of El Meson favorites and specials!

VIP TICKETS
Want to celebrate our Anniversary in style? Consider purchasing one of our limited V.I.P patio seats for just $35 on Friday or Saturday. This area will be limited and give you access to a less crowded area, servers, and a great view of the bands. We are not accepting reservations for the restaurant this weekend and this will be the only reserved seating available. Please let us know if you would like to be sat with another party in the V.I.P. Area

DID YOU KNOW?
Every year the family goes on vacation to various countries in South America in search of great recipes. They then pay the local restaurateurs for these recipes and bring them back to Dayton. The result is that we get to enjoy authentic recipes from Peru, Argentina,

Calamari Appetizer

Venezuela and many more.

And finally this wouldn’t be a Food Adventure article if we didn’t share our MUST EATS !

—ANY SEAFOOD TAPAS:
Tapas are little appetizer plates. They are perfect for sampling and sharing. The best and freshest ones are the seafood based ones here at El Meson. They tend to be the tasty and most exotic too. The free tableside tapa onion salsa never disappoints either.

Whole , Deep Fried Tilapia

— HOMEMADE RED SANGRIA:
They also gave white which is good, but we find the red one to be better. Get refreshed with this exotic drink! El Meson’s version is terrific.

There you have it – everything you wanted to know about the 40th anniversary weekend at El Meson but were afraid to ask.

See you at the birthday party!!! Celebrate with the Castro family ! The event has it all, throwback food, new food, drinks, music and food trucks.